ATV and UTV use ramps up during the summer.
While the machines can be fun, they can also be dangerous, especially for kids.
Emergency Medicine Doctor Danny Yarger with Aspirus Health says children and teens are hospitalized 30 percent more often than adults following ATV and UTV crashes.
“When kids get into these accidents, they tend to have more severe injure. The younger the child the severe the injury is,” said Yarger.
Lt. Jake Holsclaw, Administrative Warden with the Wisconsin DNR, talked about some of the factors seen in youth crashes.
“You have the inexperience. You have the maybe driving too fast or operating a machine that’s too big for them. That’s another common thing. Children are getting hurt on private lands, farms, things like that. They’re hopping on a machine that basically built for an adult. When that happens, they’re not able to control it properly,” said Holsclaw.
He says in 2024, Wisconsin had six fatalities that involved people under 18 years old.
Wisconsin does require an ATV safety course before riding for anyone born after 1987.
“There is a common misconception that individuals, when they turn 16, believe they are covered with a driver’s license. That is not the case. They must have a DNR or another state’s ATV certification. They are required to keep that on their person; it is essentially a driver’s license,” said Holsclaw.
Riders 12 to 16 years of age in Michigan, Wisconsin, and Minnesota are required to complete a certified ATV safety course before operating alone.
